Aug 25, 2026
Biodiesel Producers in Brazil want Increased Pace of Expansion
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Currently, the mandatory minimum percentage of biodiesel in Brazilian diesel is 15%, or B15. It is common for soybean oil to represent 70% of the raw product used to produce biodiesel with 30% from used cooking oil, beef tallow, and other vegetable oils. Each 1% increase in the blend would consume 4 million tons more of soybeans and generate 3 million tons more of soybean meal used mainly in animal feed. Each liter of biodiesel results in the production of 4 kilograms of soybean meal.
The National Biodiesel Testing program is currently evaluating mixtures between B16 and B20 with results expected in February 2027. At that point, the government is expected to have the first report indicating whether the adoption of B20 is technically feasible. In the second stage, percentages between B21 and B25 will be evaluated.
Leaders of the biodiesel sector feel the Brazilian government is too slow in evaluating higher blends of biodiesel. They point to Indonesia as a country much more aggressively utilizing biodiesel. In July 2026, Indonesia increased its mandatory blend from B40 to B50,using mainly biodiesel produced from palm oil.
According to the director of the Department of Biofuels, in the Ministry of Mines and energy (MME), B15 and B50 do not only represent different numbers, but results of different production chains and different operating conditions. Brazil has differences in raw materials, logistics, climate, and operating conditions that require an evaluation of their own before higher percentages are transformed into mandatory national policy.
The president of the Superior Council of Ubrabio, Brazil is late in relation to the pace of growth envisioned in 2007 when the biodiesel program was initiated. When it started, the blend was supposed to increase 1% per year, which would put it today at B19. The proposal advocated by the sector is not necessarily to immediately jump from the current B15 to B20 or B25, but to create a faster and more predictable trajectory of expansion.